Pope Benedict XVI has complained that modern society has a certain "amnesia" about God as he lamented the dwindling of the faith during a visit to Spain, a once staunchly Catholic country that has seen the church’s grip on society fall dramatically since the end of the Fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
Benedict was speaking Friday in general terms about the secularization that has taken hold in much of the West in a speech to a few hundred adoring young nuns gathered in El Escorial monastery, a UNESCO world heritage site about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of the capital.
Benedict, in Spain to celebrate the church’s World Youth Day, told them their decisions to dedicate their lives to their faith was a potent message for today’s world.
"This is all the more important today when we see a certain eclipse of God taking place, a kind of amnesia which albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity," he said.
Today, August 21, Pope Benedict XVI will lead the Papal Mass at the Cuatro Vientos Airfield as part of the closing ceremonies of the World Youth Day attended by at least two million people, including bishops, priests, and the rest of the delegates, including Filipinos.
In today’s final mass, the Pope is expected to urge the younger generation of Catholics to become "witnesses to their faith."
At the end of the final mass, the Holy Father is set to announce the country which will host the next World Youth Day.
Benedict’s main priority as Pope has been to try to reawaken Christianity in places like Spain. He has traveled here three times as Pope – an indication that he views it as a key battleground in his bid to remind Europe of its Christian heritage and the need for God to retake a place in daily life.
Like in much of Europe, the church in Spain has seen its influence wane in recent decades: Its stance on women, equality, gay rights, and abortion have alienated an increasingly educated and sophisticated middle class.
But Spain’s religious apathy also stems from the memories of its 1936-1939 civil war and aftermath, when the church was tightly linked to Franco’s repressive government, which ended in 1978.
Franco’s military revolt pitted Spain’s conservative aristocracy, some of its army and church against a left-leaning democratically elected Republican government.
Internecine violence led to churches being burned and dozens of priests and nuns being murdered in a conflict that saw atrocities committed on all sides.
After the war and because of its support of Franco, the church was granted many privileges, including a major role in overseeing public education.
A vestige of the war is the Valley of the Fallen, a monumental mausoleum Franco built for himself about 2 kilometers (1.5 miles) east of El Escorial. Though he was in the area Friday, Benedict made no stop at the monument, which is popular with tourists but remains a painful and divisive reminder for many Spaniards of the war and its aftermath.
Spain’s Socialist government would like to defuse the overtly victorious monument and transform it into a symbol of reconciliation.
Government ministers met on Friday with top Vatican officials and sought the church’s help in this transformation. Spanish private news agency Europa Press, citing government officials, said the Vatican had expressed "great openness" and "maximum comprehension" to the idea.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi confirmed the proposal had been raised and received attention during the meeting with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican No. 2. But he said he couldn’t make any comment on the Vatican’s reaction.
Despite Benedict’s oft-repeated lament about the disappearance of God from daily life in Europe, he has no better evidence that Catholicism is alive and well than the World Youth Day celebrations under way in Madrid, the reason he is here.
Some 500,000 people from nearly 200 countries have signed up to participate in the weeklong prayer fest, which the church sees as a way to spread the faith to new generations. News reports say nearly twice as many may take part in the final Mass on Sunday.
Twelve lucky participants had lunch with the Pope Friday, including 29-year-old Sylvie Kambau, from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kambau, who presented Benedict with a wooden statue, said the luncheon was "magnificent."
"He was a very simple person, very accessible," she told Associated Press Television News. "He received us like a father with his simplicity. He listened to us, he listened to us more than he spoke to us and it was a fantastic moment we had with him."
Late Friday, Benedict participated in a re-enactment of the death and crucifixion of Christ, a mainstay of World Youth Days. Meditations read out during the solemn service included prayers for young victims of war, poverty and sexual abuse, though there was no explicit reference to sexual abuse by priests.
In the Philippines, young people are holding simultaneous World Youth Day vigil at the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City until today. The event called "World Youth Day 2011: Madrid to Manila," is a manifestation that apart from the millions of people assembled in Madrid, millions of young Filipino Catholics share their faith and their aspirations.
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